Burma's Thein Sein in historic visit to US

Thein Sein, Burma's president, becomes the first leader of his country in nearly half a century to visit the White House today.

Burma's president Thein SeinPhoto: REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

By AFP

8:52AM BST 20 May 2013

In a scene that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago, the former general will meet with President Barack Obama and later seek to woo US businesses that see a lucrative market in the former pariah state.

Critics say that Mr Obama's invitation was premature and takes pressure off Burma to address still-alarming abuses such as recent anti-Muslim violence to which security forces allegedly turned a blind eye.

Thein Sein, who took office as a nominal civilian in 2011, surprised even cynics by freeing hundreds of political prisoners, easing censorship and letting long-detained opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi enter parliament.

Speaking at the office of Voice of America, Thein Sein said he would tell Mr Obama that the reform path is stable and call for a complete end to the economic sanctions which the United States has mostly suspended.

"Relations have greatly improved thanks to the policies of President Obama," he told a forum on Sunday. "For our political reforms, we also need more economic development."

The most critical test of reform will come in 2015, when Burma is scheduled to hold elections – testing whether the military and its allies would be willing to cede power, potentially to Ms Suu Kyi.

Thein Sein did not budge on the constitution's allocation of 25 per cent of seats in parliament to the armed forces, saying that the military had preserved Burma's independence.

"It is a defensive force. You cannot deny their place in politics," he said.

The army seized control of the country then known as Burma in 1962, ushering in decades of isolation. Military ruler Ne Win in 1966 was the last leader to visit the White House, where he met president Lyndon Johnson.

Mr Obama has made Burma a key priority and visited in November. To some, Burma represents the biggest success from his pledge in his 2009 inaugural address to reach out to US foes if they "unclench" their fists.

Many experts believe that a key motivating factor for Burma's reforms was to ease its reliance on neighbouring China, which developed an overwhelming influence in the proudly independent country amid US and European sanctions.

A recent Human Rights Watch report accused Burma of a "campaign of ethnic cleansing" against the Rohingya, a mostly Muslim minority who are not even considered citizens of the predominantly Buddhist nation.

The US Campaign for Burma, an advocacy group that plans protests against Thein Sein, said that the United States should have retracted or at least frozen gestures toward Burma as a condition to stop abuse of the Rohingya.

"President Obama is sending the message that crimes against humanity by state forces against ethnic and religious minorities in Burma will be ignored by his administration," said Jennifer Quigley, the group's executive director.

Thein Sein, asked about the violence, said only that troubles in Rakhine state "started out of crime, not ethnic strife."